


The fangs of dawnguard

by Tallowwood



Series: The tales of bored NPCs in Skyrim [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: BE GRATEFUL, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Dawnguard DLC, Dragonborn is a side character, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm not personally a fan of Serana but a friend of mine is so ALL MENTIONS OF HER ARE FOR HIM, Magic, Moral Dilemmas, Other, Platonic Relationships, Vampires, Violence, doing my best to write a deep story, philosophical stuff, spoilers for Dawnguard DLC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-07-13 22:41:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallowwood/pseuds/Tallowwood
Summary: Eilif has been a vampire (a normal sanguinare vampiris infection induced one) for millennia. She mostly stayed away from anything too troublesome in her long unlife, but during a trip with a thrall, she gets enlisted into the ranks of Dawnguard.Now, after befriending the group, she must hunt down others of her kind (which she doesn't actually mind doing) and keep out of the suspicious glare of Isran.Also, the dragonborn's apparently joined the vampire hunters, too; so now she has that to worry about.





	1. First look

It was an unpleasantly hot night for such a cold place as Skyrim and Eilif did not appreciate it, tipping her helmet back and whipping the sweat off her forehead with a grimy hand; causing her damp hair to stick up in awkward angles as she stepped back from her work.

She frowned at the potion passively bubbling over her campfire, letting off a minty glow as the Nirnroot started to soak in. Her thrall commenting that it smelled like wild mountain flowers from where they sat in the groove of a rock.

Eilif threw some Jarrin Root in, whipped the dirt off her hands and left it to boil on its own as she pushed aside a branch to peer out at the surrounding landscape.

A frown tugged at her lips as the first rays of dawn slid over the horizon, coating the land in orange hues whilst Eilif herself already started to feel her strength decreasing and mana pools growing harder to reach.

“should we find a cave, mistress?” her thrall started “we’ve only got one more night of travel until we’re back home.”

Eilif sighed “why did I propose a trip, Anna?”

“you were ‘drunk and bored’ as you told me, ma’am.”

“Of course.”

Removing the pot of poison from the fire, Eilif sat down by a tree root and proceeded to pour the now moss green liquid into several bottles and then stick them in her knapsack.

“Did you get the…”

“Yes, milady.”

“Good.”

Eilif pooled a small portion of her weakened magic into the palm of her hand and allowed it to freeze over into a simple frostbite spell before pouring it over the fire to put it out. Bringing a loaf of bread and some cheese out of her bag for her thrall before she herself went to sleep until the evening.

:::::::::::::::::

“You there!”

Eilif jolted awake to the sound of a gruff voice and her thralls hand pressed protectively into her shoulder.

“Over here.”

She turned in her spot to find an orc wearing strange padded armor standing tall and proud by the remains of the fire from this morning; Eilif noted morosely that he had woken her up in the middle of the day- and knowing herself- she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep any time soon so she was now stuck consciously feeling the suns effects for the next eight hours.

“yes? Do you need something?” she yawned, holding a hand to her mouth to conceal her needle-sharp fangs.

The orc grinned “seeing as you appear to know a decent amount of survival skills and your armor is clearly of orcish quality, I feel I should offer you the opportunity to join the Dawnguard; as we’re currently looking for recruits.”

Eilifs brow twitched, she’d heard of that once before, hadn’t she? Yes, it was centuries ago, some group of vampire hunters running around causing havoc, but hadn’t they died out? 

“what’s it about?”

“Dawnguard is a group of vampire hunters, created to wipe out the blood-sucking menace in Skyrim once and for all!”

The vampire MENACE? She had noticed a larger group of hostile cave dwelling vampires in Skyrim, sure, but a menace is not the word she’d have used to describe them; maybe pest-like, but certainly not menacing like the whet-fang or Cyrodiil clan.

“I haven’t seen a menace” Eilif piped up, stating her puzzlement.

“then you obviously haven’t been paying attention- much like the rest of this godforsaken land. They ransacked and destroyed the hall of the Vigilants, for Malakaths’ sake!” the orc exclaimed.

“well, I hadn’t heard about that. Where do I go to join?”

“Here, it’s down by Riften, I’ll mark it on your map.”

Eilif waved as the orc, Durak, headed out to keep traveling to wherever he was going; before turning to Anna with a troubled frown “I don’t think we’ll be going home as soon as we planned, would you please send the others a letter explaining the situation?”

“but aren’t you worried they might find you out?”

“Oh please, I’m literally one of the oldest vampires in history, I think I can handle a few children playing pin the stake to the heart.”

“very well, milady.”

::::::::::::::::::

Mildly regretting her decision to leave her thrall behind, Eilif found the path up to fort Dawnguards was winding and currently lit by two full moons hanging low in the sky, only interrupted by a single light source she could see as she made her way forward; a single burning torch in the hand of a young Nord by the looks of it.

As she approached, the man turned towards her and gave a relieved smile "Oh, hey there! You here to join the Dawnguard, too?”

At her intrigued nod, the man continued “Truth is, I'm a little nervous. I've never done anything like this before. I hope you don't mind if I walk up with you?” 

“You may walk with me if you tell me about yourself” Eilif replied, giving him a friendly smile; it was always nice to talk to young adult mortals, they still had that sparkle of adventure in their eye that she always missed in other vampires.

“Well, there’s not much to say- my name’s Agmaer, I’d heard the rumors and seen the signs of vampires- and honestly, I figured I could either stay and hide from the shadows or do something to help protect the rest of us.”

“Brave and wise words for a farmhand,” Eilif smiled approvingly, “I think you’ll be a welcome addition to the Dawnguard.”

“Oh, no- I bet you’ve killed plenty of vampires and Isran will take you right in. Not so sure about me, though.”

“Oh please! The first part of that statement might be true, but it’s not ALL about that, it’s about spirit! And guts! And the wish to protect!” she cried, throwing her hands in the air as she was swept up in memories of past adventure.

Agmaer grinned “well, I suppose you’re right! C’mon, the entrance is just ahead, let’s go!”

They pushed the doors open together and stepped into the decently lit entry chamber, Agmaer looked on in awe whilst Eilif studied the sturdy bars that circled the floor and displayed water underneath their feet; obviously blessed with something vampire repellent if the faintly sour smell was any indication.

“more new recruits, I take it? Well it’s about damn time people started showing up;” a gruff voice muttered, leading the two new recruits to notice an older man standing on the other end of the chamber with a grumpy expression “the name’s Isran, I take it neither of you will be causing any trouble?”


	2. double take

Agmaer stepped forward first with a fiery resolution in his eyes “No sir, we are here to end the vampire epidemic once and for all. I may not have much training, but I can guarantee that I’ll fight with every ounce of passion I hold.”

Isran looked impressed at his speech, clapping him on the shoulder fondly “That’s what I like to hear, welcome to Dawnguard, son! go get your armour and meet Beleval outside for instruction.”  
He then turned his gaze to Eilif critically “and you?” 

She saluted “I think the vampires have grown quite bothersome, they need to be taken down a peg or two.”

“Hmph, we’ll see how well you work out, then. Now, as is my strategy; hunting parties consist of three people each. And since you both sowed up around the same time, you will make up a team with Beleval.”

“Fair enough, sir. I’ll be on my way.”

As she walked off to join her new partner, she heard Isran laugh “It’s nice to be called sir for once. I could get used to this.”

\----------------------------

The Armor provided stank of salt and Stendarr blessings, itching against Eilifs skin, but not distracting enough to cause her any real harm; the real danger came from the outer layers of the equipment, causing a heavier burn to her touch as she put it on as quickly as possible to avoid lasting damage.

Sighing in relief that the padded inner cloth was not as heavily blessed, she chose a simple one-handed battle axe that radiated the same poisons for the undead and followed Agmaer outside.

\-----------------------------

Beleval was a stern looking woman, all sharp angles and tight frowns.

“So, my new partners arrive. I don’t much like Isran, but at least he’s competent when picking candidates.”

Eilif suppressed a chuckle, thinking of how he hadn’t even given her obviously vampiric glowing eyes a second glance; he must’ve thought it was just a high elf thing, given how they could have golden eyes she supposed he could assume hers were natural.

“what will we be doing first?”

The Bosmer shrugged dismissively “Just a patrol through the general area, maybe check out some spots that those blood suckers have been reported to frequent.”

Agmaer nodded nervously as the three began to move, ducking through the cave-like entrance out to the road.

Their boots crunched over dry grass and early morning frost as the sun slowly began to rise; Eilif suppressing a frown at the laxing of her strength and burn across her skin, instead focusing on the sweet smell of wildflowers and cold air.

It was silent for a good hour of trudging along a string of roads, Eilif reckoned, before any of them broke the ice.

“So, uh- we’re a hunting group, now. Shouldn’t we… Get to know each other?”

Eilif shrugged “not much to say, born in the summerset isles, grew bored of the self-worship, moved to Skyrim and got married, went camping and now I’m here.”

“Left Morrowind after growing tired of the ever-rising piles of ash and travelled for a time, eventually I ended up here… and just never really left.”

Agmaer frowned at the vague responses, but Eilif thinks he understood why they’d be tight lipped- they’d only just met, after all.

She was still musing over this when an arrow shot past her cheek.

“what-!”

A hoard came crashing down on the three of them.

\-------------------------

Eilif slid on a loose stick, the crashing sound of her own fall jarring her senses in the previously silent run; body shuddering as her back met the forest floor.

“I’ll gut you like a PIG, Dawnguard scum!” a screech ricochet from behind her.

Eilif held her breath and rolled onto her stomach, huddling against a tree root as footsteps stomped closer.

Suddenly, the glow of the most iconic vampire spell in Skyrim reflected off the trees around her; a clawed hand wielding an orb of red energy emerging into her field of vision.

“come out, come out, wherever you are… Filthy Skeever-spawn!”

Eilif swiped the blood from a fresh cut to her cheek and tucked a hand under herself to shield the light she began gathering there; allowing the magic to warm and crackle in her clenched palm as she slowly raised herself to her knees and leant slightly out of her hiding place.

Glowing pupils met for the briefest of seconds before Eilif thrust out her arm and let loose her fire spell, feeling the energy flow down her arm and ignite once it hit the naked air; enveloping the vampire in a cloak of hungry flames.

The vampire shrieked, and Eilif took advantage; lunging forward with battle-axe ready to deliver the final blows.

As she buried the blade into the vampire’s lungs, all she could hear was its wailing. 

“Traitor! TRAITOR! TrAItOr!”

She made one last swing, cutting off the screams down to a wet gurgle before stumbling backwards.

Breathing heavily, Eilif scooped up some of the ashes from the corpse before limping back to the road.

“Head count! Agmaer?”

“Here,” a voice coughed from the bowels of a hollow tree trunk, the blond stumbling out with a bloody dagger and covered in dust “Didn’t actually think it’d disintegrate like that.”

“Beleval?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t panic- I’m still alive” the Bosmer huffed, emerging from the opposite tree-line clutching a scuffed-up note and a piece of vampiric armour.

“What’s on the paper?”

“Hm? Oh, I just found it in their back pocket, haven’t read it yet. Isran will probably want to see it, I’m sure.”

Eilif nodded as she cast a quick healing spell on herself, before they headed back towards the fortress.

\-------------------------

“What happened?” Isran growled, eying the battered group in front of him.

“Vampires, sir”

“Of course. Did you find anything amongst their piles of ash?”

“only this, sir” Beleval stated, handing the note over for his inspection.

“Hmph! Of course, sent to stall our-” the entrance door flew open.

A Priest, that Eilif could feel the purification blessing radiating off of as if he was holding a torch up to her face, stood in the doorway “Isran, the vigilants of Stendarr have been attacked!”

The grumpy vampire hunter shot the three of them sharp looks “go settle down for the day, I’ve got some business to attend to it seems.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> constructive criticism always appreciated.


	3. third glance

Eilif didn’t enjoy drinking people’s blood, it was too sticky and left a headache-inducing mess if you weren’t careful; plus, the taste was as if one were trying to suck on a chunk of iron.

Thus, why she hadn’t ever gotten too involved in the activity until now; preferring a life of isolation to conceal her bat-like features over hiding them through the consumption of the gooey substance.

Unfortunately, now that she was in the midst of a group solely dedicated to killing the creatures of shadow; Eilif found herself skulking around the sleeping quarters every night nipping at the cleanest looking member, for that nights, neck and then casting a quick healing hands spell on them.

Which left her here, tonight; walking over to her bed after her latest annoyingly disgusting necessity whilst feeling relieved that neither Agmaer or Beleval seemed to be very interested in the local baths- as she didn’t really feel like eating her friends.

It had been about a week since she’d joined, and though her two hunting buddies had their quirks- Eilif found herself enjoying their company. Maybe due to the centuries of isolation with only thralls for conversation.

“Wait- what?”

Eilif spun around at the unfamiliar voice, a dagger instantly in her grip as the fiery orbs of her pupils landed on a similar set up against a wall.

“give me one reason not to kill you right now.”

“because we’re the same” the mystery woman stated, stepping into the torchlight to reveal a young-looking woman with black hair and the classic vampire armor.

Eilif scowled at her “firstly, that is not a reason. Secondly, didn’t the Dragonborn take you back home? WHY have you come here?”

Eilif couldn’t understand why the Dragonborn hadn’t just killed this girl and taken the elder scroll as soon as they could, but she supposed they just hadn’t felt like it?

“I’m here to warn the one who rescued me about my fathers’ plot to use the elder scrolls to blot out the sun and have vampires’ rule” the child replied, furrowing her brow in apparent impatience at Eilifs questioning.

“then why on earth didn’t you give the scroll to your rescuer before going home?”

“why would I do that? The Dawnguard would use it to wipe out all vampires as soon as they could, which includes YOU.”

Eilif squinted at her “and WHY exactly would that be a bad thing?”

“wh- why? Well- you know what? Never mind. I’ve got business to attend to” she huffed, storming off to find the Dragonborn, no doubt.

Eilif scrunched her nose at the retreating form “I have a terrible feeling that I’ll be seeing a lot more of that annoyance in the future.”

\-------------------------

“did you hear? The Dragonborn managed to convince Isran to let a vampire help them kill the other vampires” Agmaer piped up the next day, fiddling with the loading mechanism of his crossbow.  
“Oh really? Well, that’s going to be interesting, I’m sure” Beleval muttered as she absentmindedly nudged the man slightly to the right, so he was aiming at the target instead of the fence.

Eilif rolled her eyes as she fired her own bolt, how did she know that vampire was going to cause trouble?

“You three!”

They swiveled around to look at Celann standing by the fort entrance “You’ve been ordered to head to Whiterun and help the jarl there investigate a possible vampire problem. Go get ready and head out as soon as you can, Isran looked serious.” 

“he always looks serious” Beleval grumbled, holstering her own crossbow and turning towards a small nook where members put their horses if they had any.

“follow me, I’ve got a spare horse.”

\----------------------------------

After a playful fight between Eilif and Agmaer over who got the spare horse and who got to sit behind Beleval; plus, a long tiresome journey following Eilifs' victory of securing said spare horse, they arrived at the gates of the great city.

It was a nice day, dogs barking, the smell of forge smoke wafting through the wind, and townsfolk milling through the marketplace; with no clear goal in mind as far as Eilif could see. Just generally wasting their spare time. Much like the three hunters felt like they were doing as they wandered by the stalls, and towards the great hall towering over the city.

“What sort of problem do you think the Jarl’s having with vampires?” Agmaer asked, tugging absentmindedly at the straps of his armor. 

Beleval shrugged “maybe a son? Or a twitchy servant?”

The Nord hummed, glancing at the giant tree planted at the base of the halls many steps. Eilif could see the pink of its leaves reflecting in his curious eyes as they all passed it.

\---------------------------------

“Oh, for the god’s sake.”

Eilif closed her mouth after her sudden outburst, glaring at the pair opposite her group- why was the Dragonborn even here? Didn’t they have something to do? She didn’t like the fact their eyes were hidden in the shadows of that helmet, it made her feel they were not as heroic as everyone thought.

They tilted their head in greeting, a spell used since the dawn of time forming words in the air to communicate silently the simple sentence ‘Hello, what are you doing here?’

“you know Dwiirok Zul Kotin Su, I see,” Eilif commented, softening slightly; so, the Dov couldn’t speak in the mortal tongues? She had heard that a few of the previous Dragonborn had started out speaking exclusively in the voice as children, but for this one to have never grown out of it… Akatoshs’ gift was strong in them.

“I’d also like to know what you’re doing here” the Dovs’ vampire spoke up, raising an eyebrow at the three.

“The Jarl’s asked for our help with a possible situation involving your kind.”

The pair seemed to perk up at that, the Dragonborn in interest as he walked closer- his companion in confusion from their reaction.

'would you like any help?’ 

Eilif stared at the words in contemplation for a while, though she finally let out a tired sigh “fine, just don’t cause any trouble, alright?”

And with that, they turned back towards the now bemused looking Jarl a few feet away.

“You’re here for the vampire issue, I take it?”

\------------------------

Serana, as the vampire hunters were informed the Dragonborn’ companions name was, hadn’t stopped glaring at Eilif the entire trek around Whiterun as they followed her perpetually running partner. It was like the dragon slayer didn’t know what patience was, though he did stop every now and again to make the odd conversation or two.

It was during one such stop that Serana finally stepped up with a pleasant smile on her face “so, what made you join the Dawnguard?”

Eilif shrugged “I was approached by a member whilst making my way home from a trip in the tundra- nice place by the way- and thought ‘what’s the harm?’ so I joined.”

“Father was killed by some vampires, I wasn’t particularly fond of him, but it did get me to notice the rather out of hand numbers of undead crawling around Skyrim; so, I joined” Beleval offered.

“Just felt like doing something heroic in my life” Agmaer finished, starting a tired jog once he noticed the Dragonborn finish his current conversation and run off again, starting the rest of them to follow suit.  
Suddenly, the Dragonborn spun around to face them and motioned towards one of the many houses lining the street ‘it’s in here’ were the words that appeared in front of them.

“what’s in there?” 

‘the vampire.’

“And how do you know this?”

‘I was asking around. Do you mind waiting out here?’

Serana crossed her arms stubbornly “No, I think I’ll come in with you. I need a good adventure after so many years in a coffin.”

Eilif felt like if she could see their face, the Dovakiin would be frowning as he shrugged and turned to begin picking the lock.

It only took a few minutes, so they were in relatively quickly. 

Only to find a dusty, cobweb-filled dining room with a figure sitting by the unlit fireplace silently.

The stale air was clogged with the scent of blood and rot, sending Eilifs’ “hunger” above its usually bearable persistence.

Now, THIS was the part she hated most about being cursed with undeath; the “hunger” wasn’t normal. One did not simply start craving blood after a certain amount of time had passed since the last feed. Instead, it was a constant twinge in the gut; never allowing you to feel truly satisfied with any meal no matter how great unless it was accompanied by blood.

And this gut-wrenching nightmare only grew worse when around a source of raw blood unprotected by a layer of scent concealing skin, like that of an uninjured mortal.

“you are here to kill me” the vampire stated, hunching forward in his chair.

The Dragonborn unsheathed their weapon and remained still as if waiting for further talk.

“I deserve it,” he continued “I had a daughter… many centuries ago, living with me in High Rock. But on my way home from a hunting trip, a vampire attacked me- cursing the rest of my life with this disease.

When I made it home, my daughter was gone; whisked away by other night stalkers it seemed. And I lived in solitude for many years before moving to Skyrim- only for something terrible to occur.

The daughter I had thought long since dead knocked at my door stating the dark brotherhood had received a contract for my head; apparently, someone had figure out my secret. But any physical attempts she made to kill me failed, as I felt as if I died as soon as I realized this meant my poor, sweet Babette was a vampire and working with that foul group of assassins.

And on top of that, she didn’t appear to recognize me. I fled, and just recently settled here; so please- just get on with it.”

The Dragonborn seemed to ponder for a moment, before walking forward ‘please follow me, I have somewhere to take you.’

And with that, Eilif, Beleval, Agmaer, and Serana were left in the rotting house as the old vampire was escorted out by their companion; but only after said companion spoke a line in dragon tongue that roughly translated to [don’t follow me, I need to do this alone.]

Eilif furrowed her brow “well, looks like the Dragonborn's got this quest sorted out; I’m going back to the fort to whine about how we didn’t get to do anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> constructive criticism is appreciated.


	4. fourth take

“They’re… sort of cute?” Agmaer offered, looking over the barricade at the baby trolls.

“They’ve got big watery eyes” Eilif stated as if to reassure Gunmar that… well, she didn’t know what she was reassuring him about, but she felt like she should.

“When will they be full grown and trained?” Beleval asked.

Gunmar scratched at his neck, studying the young creatures as they pace around their area “in about a month, these bastards grow scarily fast.”

Everyone within earshot frowned after that, not pleased by that bit of information about the beasts that plagued the land.

Before anything else could be done, though; Isran was calling them all into the main chamber to inform them the Dragonborn had gone to collect a moth priest, of all things, to help destroy the vampires.

Eilif wondered how one of those old scroll readers could help.

\----------------------------------

Eilif leaned heavily against the stone wall of the forts main entrance, absentmindedly eyeing a red line of indented skin on her arm from where her armor had pressed into her skin.

She raised a bottle of mead and let the tingling sweetness wash over her tongue as she waited for Isran to stop growling at the newly acquired moth priest. She noticed a tiny rash along the edges of the mark on her arm- she’d have to reapply a layer of cloth under her armor to stop any permanent damage from the blessed metal.

‘The Dragonborn’s been moving pretty quickly with this, wonder how much longer until this “war” is won’ Eilif paused ‘wonder how much longer till they kill me.’

She didn’t particularly want to die, but as she didn’t know of a cure, and she’d grown too fond of these people to just murder them- maybe after all these centuries… it was TIME to die?

She frowned.

\-----------------------------------

Serana, of course, somehow found her first.

“There you are, the entire fort was looking for you. Isran almost gouged my eyes out thinking I’d eaten you.”

“Oh please, you wouldn’t be able to touch me if I didn’t let you.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“So, then he ordered you to find me, right?”

“Yup.”

Eilif rolled her eyes fondly- Isran was a strange, grumpy man “in all my years, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him before.”

The younger vampire huffed “I hope I never have to meet anyone like him again. Always trying to find a reason to kill me.”

“Hey, he’s just an old mortal- let him bare his ageing fangs whilst he still has them.”

Eilif could sense the eyeroll and flashed her a fang filled smirk “what? You’d ignore the words of wisdom an elder gives you? The shame, your parents must be so disappointed.”

There was a shift in the air, then. And Serana almost seemed sad as she came to sit beside her, eyes downcast “yeah, they probably are.”

Eilif frowned, feeling a spark of pity “they’re vampires, too?”

“We were part of a cult worshiping of Molag Bal, mother and I were offered up as sacrifices and came out as full-blooded vampires, and soon my father joined us.”

“Ah, I remember that part of history, cults were all the rage back then. Nasty business.”

“Wait, you remember that? Just how old are you?”

Eilif frowned, thinking back “Lamae Bal was a dear friend of mine before the Daedra took an interest. Then the girl was warped into the being of anger people know her as today.”

The old vampire sighed “she had been such a brilliant bard.”

Serana looked momentarily awed, before shaking out of it and sighing “I’ve got to go, we need to find three elder scrolls to discover this ‘Tyranny of the sun’ nonsense.”

Eilif gave her a pat on the back and turned back to stare out at the snowy mountains and the occasional glimpse of a stray dragon.

“the Dragonborn might’ve defeated Alduin, but they sure as oblivion didn’t wipe the lizards out.”

\------------------------------

Eilif wouldn’t have believed her slanted, elven, eyes could widen so much.

She was sure it looked strange, but right now she wasn’t too focused on it. Rather, she stared owlishly at the rest of Dawnguard as she stood in a beam of searing light that had come flooding down into the main chamber as she walked through.

Now all of Dawnguard had their weapons raised and Isran stared down at her angrily “care to explain, vampire?”

She felt her skin start to burn in the magic light, smelling the vampire dust shedding from her skin like sweat as she remained frozen in shock.

“I don’t know how long you’ve been a vampire, but I’m going to give you a chance. I’ve heard there’s a mage in Morthal who has been claimed to hold a cure, go to him and come back alive, or don’t come back at all,” Isran spat “now GET OUT!”

As if propelled by his words alone, the vampire twisted round and hurried towards the door, barely catching a glance of Agmaer and Belevals’ devastated looks.

\----------------------------

She ran.

For as long as she could, she ran through the forest feverishly.

Skidding to a stop by the side of a road and doubling over to catch an unneeded breath.

“Alright, you were revealed, and they gave you a chance” she reasoned with herself, looking up at the night sky forlornly, knowing that the glow of her eyes prevented the stars reflections to shine off them.

“now you’ve got to decide.”

A heaviness pulled down on her stomach, murky fear seeping through her lungs like poison, and she sat down with a thump “join the vampires, or…” why were her eyes watering? She hadn’t cried in centuries “or stop being a vampire.”

Did she WANT to grow old? Did she WANT to regain the ability to have children? Did she want to have the chance to die outside of a battle of completely natural causes?

…

Did she WANT to stop watching the world age around her?

It all came down to that, she supposed. Did she want to become part of history, instead of its curator?

She’d watched things live and die for millennia, some in fear, some in relief, others in anger, and many… in peace.

She guessed it wouldn’t be so bad, the sun wouldn’t pester her anymore, she wouldn’t need to taste the iron of blood again, wearing this armor wouldn’t be so irritating.

But could she? It was such a big part of her identity!

Without it, would she be the same? Or would she return to her original, mortal state and forget everything? 

Turn back into that timid little nobleman’s daughter that couldn’t keep out of the way far enough?

Gods, she hoped not.

“So, what’ll it be?” she muttered.

The wind picked up around her and dark clouds began rolling in.

**Author's Note:**

> constructive criticism and such is always welcome! ^w^
> 
> If you wish to talk to me elsewhere, here: 
> 
> https://tallowjones.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> https://twitter.com/TallowAm


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